Thyroid cancer treatment 'now shorter and safer'

Patients with thyroid cancer can now safely receive much lower doses of treatment without harming their chances of recovery, following the successful completion of a large clinical trial.

Led by scientists at University College London (UCL), the Cancer Research UK trial involved 438 patients with thyroid cancer.

At present, treatment involves surgery to remove the thyroid gland, followed by a capsule of radioactive iodine to destroy any remaining cancer cells.

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However, surgical techniques have improved so that more to the thyroid tissue is removed, thereby enabling lower radiation doses to be administered with fewer side-effects and a shorter recovery time.

The trial, which is published in the New England Journal of Medicine, found that giving patients just one-third of the current dose of iodine in a single oral capsule was just as effective as the higher dose.

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Lead study author Dr Ujjal Mallick, from the Freeman Hospital in Newcastle, said: 'We're delighted that this study of thyroid cancer will change international approaches to treat the disease more safely, by reducing the chance of another cancer developing later in life and other side effects.'

Kate Law, director of clinical research at Cancer Research UK, added that the study 'heralds a vastly improved treatment' for thyroid cancer.

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